My birthday is next Friday, September 5th, and the race is my present. A half marathon - 13.1 miles in Lake Placid, New York. I cannot wait. This will be my second half that I will have done. My first was in Wilmington, Delaware in May, 2013. I have been wanting to sign up for another one ever since, but have been very wary about my knees.

Ever since high school track I have had tendinitis in both of my knees. Throughout the years the chronic injury kept getting worse. One of my knees would swell up after a sprint or long run, and the swelling would last for a good 2 weeks, limiting my range of motion and having me limping around with minor pain sometimes. When the inflammation went down and I started running again, it was only a matter of time when the other knee would flare up and repeat the same process. 

Over the last few years I have been strengthening and stretching my leg muscles, wearing my knee braces, and decreasing the amount of days that I run.  I was hesitant on signing up for any races when I moved to the Greater New York Area this past May, because I had a new job as a Personal Trainer and wouldn't want to be injured while on the job. Could you imagine seeing a Personal Trainer limping around the gym two weeks at a time?

However, I have been on a couple long runs (Stew and I ran 8 miles the other week) along the Hudson River, overlooking an amazing view of NYC, and kept telling myself that "I have to do it."
 "I have to sign up for a run. I want to keep myself motivated with running. I love it too much to stop."

So I did it. I signed up for a 13.1 mile run for the day after my birthday. I'm celebrating my birthday with something active, and something that I enjoy greatly. My goal is to do a bunch of halves to eventually work my way up to the full 26.2 marathon.  

As you know, exercise is important for your health.  It will keep you healthier for a longer period of time, but how?

There are three types of exercise training – Cardio, resistance training, and flexibility training.   Cardio is important for everyone to have in his or her weekly routines.   It puts a stress on the cardiorespiratory system, which helps to improve or maintain the function of the heart and lungs.  Resistance training is also important to have in your weekly routines. This type of training helps to increase muscular strength and muscular endurance; it keeps you strong and able to perform movements more frequently.  Flexibility allows for the joints to move through a full range of motion.

Cardio training is: Walking, running, swimming, rowing, elliptical machine, zumba classes, aerobic classes, and even weighted cardio like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), cardio sculpt classes, etc. 

Resistance training is: Body weight exercises, Free Weights, Weight Machines, Resistance Bands, Medicine Balls, Balance Balls, etc. 

There are 5 components of fitness, and it is important to focus on each and not just one or two.  To have an optimum fitness level, and even a better and healthier life, these components are important to be aware of.

1.     Cardiovascular endurance
2.     Muscular endurance
3.     Muscular strength
4.     Flexibility
5.     Body Composition

“I don’t want to do cardio because I will lose muscle”
“I don’t want my muscle to turn into fat”
Muscle does not turn into fat, and fat does not turn into muscle. You gain and lose fat, and you gain and lose muscle.
You won’t lose muscle while doing cardio, as long as you are still doing your resistance training during the week. With muscles, you have to use them or you lose them.  Cardio training won’t cause you to lose your muscles – completely stopping your resistance-training program will cause you to lose them.  If you are still doing your resistance training while you add the cardio – and see a weight loss difference, this means that you had more fat stored in your body.

 
“I don’t want to start lifting weights because I don’t want to bulk up”
You don’t have to worry about bulking up unless you are progressively loading the weights while training – and reaching specifically your 1 rep max or close to it.  Keep your weights at a resistance where you can lift for 10-12 reps or more. 

Resistance training, whether it is strength training or endurance, is important to put your body through – especially since many people have jobs that require no physical work.  The lack of stress on the muscles, cause you to become more weak and lose your muscle mass – while gaining fat mass.

Improving the functions of your muscles will also help with weight loss. Your muscles will breakdown energy more efficiently because they will need more energy to perform.

 
“I don’t need to be flexible”
If you are in the gym workout out, you are putting your muscles through stress – causing them to tighten up.  The more you work your muscles, especially with resistance training, the more they tighten up, and keep your joints from moving within a full range of motion. To go through life’s tasks and activities, you don’t want to be limited with how you move, and how much you move. Stretch!

Tennis is a great indoor and outdoor sport.  But now that spring is here to stay, it is a great activity to play outside.  You can enjoy the beautiful weather while getting a great work out in for your day.  When playing singles or doubles, tennis is a great social activity to get involved in.  You can call a buddy or 3 to hit with, join a team, or find a place/coach to take lessons from.  This is a sport that you can continue playing as an older adult.

Tennis is a great sport for all ages. It is a fun heart pumping cardio activity that involved strength, power, and endurance from the legs, core, arms, and cardio respiratory system.   This sport involves agility and coordination (hand eye coordination) to help you time and get to the ball. 

I decided to write a post about tennis because the weather today was perfect for playing outside.  I met up with a friend today to hit around and play a game.  I was glad I did so.  I got a great work out in, had a fun time, and really enjoyed the perfect weather. 

I worked up a sweat and really worked my muscles while running around the court.  It was great to get back into the game.

I was introduced to the sport when I was about 7 years old and played until college. During high school I started off playing doubles and then moved to singles.  I always had a great time with the girls on my high school team as well as the friends I made in clinics I took.  I don’t play as often, but when I do - it’s always fun.

When playing tennis, the entire body is involved.  Your legs, your core, your shoulders, and your arms.  This sport focuses on the strength, power, and endurance of all your muscles involved.

Legs:  This is where most of your power comes from.  When setting up for a shot, you have to be squatting “sitting” before and as you hit the ball.  The lower you sit, the more power is transferred to the ball.  Also you need to use your legs to shuffle and run around the court.

-       Gastrocnemius and Soleus are the muscles that deal with your explosive 
         movements in your calves.
-       Hamstrings are involved in knee flexion.
-       Quadriceps are involved in knee extension.
-       Gluteus Maximus is involved in hip extension and adduction. (When 
         Shuffling and running)
-       Gluteus Medius is involved with hip abduction. (When shuffling) 

Core: Your back and abdominal muscles are very important in this sport for balance, support, and power as well.  The more you turn for a shot, the more power you can transfer into the ball.

-       Rectus Abdominus is involved in spinal flexion – but acts as a stabilizer 
        as the body remains straight.
-       Obliques deal with flexion and rotation.  There is a lot of rotation involved
         in the sport, so the obliques are worked a lot through out the game.
-       Erector Spinae involved in extension and rotation.

Upper Extremity: You are dealing with muscles that are involved in circumduction of the shoulder and use a lot of push movements.

-       Pecoralis Major  is the chest muscle that allows you to push your arm 
        forward through the action of your forehand and backhand.  The muscle 
        actions that is involved is shoulder extension and internal rotation.
-       Deltoids  There are 3 heads of the deltoids.  The anterior, middle, and 
        posterior deltoid.  All three are involved in this sport.  When setting up for a
        shot, the posterior deltoid helps bring the arm backwards, and when
        extending the arm it is the anterior head that is involved.  The middle
        deltoid is involved in a serve and overhead shot.
-       Triceps are involved in elbow extension.  This happens during a serve, 
        forehand, and backhand shot, because the actions require the arms to be 
        straight.
-       Pronator Teres is involved in forearm pronation, which is important on 
        your forehand and backhand. 

Go hiking - With this warm weather approaching, it is the perfect time to explore the area around you. You can easily go online and look for hiking trails around your area.

Go for a bike ride - bike riding can be a fun activity either by yourself or with friends and family.

Go for walks - Brisk walks with friends and family is a great way to get out, enjoy the weather, and stay active.

Play a recreational sport - play basketball, soccer, tennis, football... anything that you would enjoy playing with some friends.

Are you looking for a fun activity to do on the weekend with friends or family? Rock climbing is a good one! It requires use your strength to pull yourself up to the top of a wall.

My boyfriend, Stew, and I went to an indoor rock climbing gym this weekend, to do something different. I've done it a couple of times and absolutely love it!  When you climb the walls, you have your harness, rope, and somebody to belay you during your climb.  There are rocks that along the wall where you must step and grab onto in order to climb.  Some rocks are easy to grip and others require more strength in your divi flexors (Finger flexing muscles).  

There is another climbing option, which we tried as well, called Bouldering. This is a free climb, without the rope and harness - the wall is shorter, and the idea is to climb up to the top and to the side of the wall if you can.

This activity is a challenge to your body, where you must trust your arms and legs to guide you and get you to the next level. It is appropriate for both children and adults.

This is a great full body activity that puts stress on some muscles you may not have even thought of strengthening.

Forearms - your wrist flexors play a big role in this activity for gripping and pulling yourself up.

Finger flexors- you have to grab and hold on to the rocks somehow. The flexor digitis, flexor pollicis brevis, etc.,  do a lot of work during your climb as you grab and hold onto the rocks.

Biceps- these arm muscles are engaged when your elbow is flexed. In order to pull yourself up, you need to have flexion in your elbow.

Quadriceps- as your legs push your body up to the top on the wall, you have to extend your legs.  When doing this, the quads are activated.

Calfs- your soleus and gastrocnemius are the muscles involved in toe raise exercises.  While rock climbing, you tend to stand on the rocks with your toes in order to help lift yourself to the next level. 

Core- your back is also engaged in this activity. In your upper back you are using your Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius, and Rhomboids. As you pull your arms from above your head to below your shoulders to help guide your body upward these muscles are engaged. 
Your abdominal muscles act as stabilizers during the climb.